4-H Shooting Sports and Wildlife

The 4H Shooting Sports & Wildlife Program allows youth to build skills in the safe handling of firearms and archery equipment, work on marksmanship, and learn the importance of conservation and wildlife management. It also allows them to set personal goals to work towards and have fun with their peers. Practice sessions are done under the supervision of Minnesota 4H Certified Shooting Sports and Wildlife instructors.

Our group meets every Monday night from 6-8:00 p.m. at the Deer Creek Shooting Park from May until September, with our ultimate goal of getting ready to participate in the Minnesota State Shooting Invitational. This year the Invitational will be held at the Martin County Fairgrounds in Fairmont, Minnesota from September 8-10, 2017.

We have a variety of disciplines including BB gun, air rifle/pistol, .22 rifle/pistol, archery, muzzleloading and shotgun that our members can choose from, and they typically choose one or two disciplines to work on during our practice sessions throughout the summer. All firearms, archery equipment, safety equipment, and ammunition is provided by the Shooting Sports program.

Each member must complete a certain number of hours per discipline in order to qualify to participate in the state shoot, but we also have many members that just come to practice each week to work on their shooting skills and have fun. Members that are younger than 3rd grade are not allowed to shoot at the state Invitational, but they are more than welcome to come to our practices and get some hands-on shooting experience, as long as parents are present.As a group we also complete a wildlife project that is presented and displayed at the state shoot. Although members younger than 3rd grade are not allowed to compete at the state shoot, they are allowed to participate in the wildlife project and other interactive wildlife activities during the Invitational weekend. There is also a non-competitive “fun shoot” that all 3rd graders are able to participate in.

If know any youth that are interested in joining the 4H Shooting Sports & Wildlife program, or if you are interested in becoming a Certified instructor, feel free to contact Jessie Anderson at 701-361-3518 for more information.